Yentel Newsome, NAII, (WakeMed Children’s Emergency Department) received the Erin’s Campaign for Kids Nursing Award through the Sepsis Alliance.
Named in honor of Erin Kay Flatley, who died from sepsis at age 23, Erin’s Campaign for Kids aims to combat the high incidence and mortality rates of sepsis among children. The campaign creates awards and training programs for nurses and other health professionals to help identify and treat sepsis.
In her role as nurse tech/clinical secretary, Newsome is sometimes the first person to greet patients and families when they arrive at the emergency department. Having lost a family member to sepsis, she is well aware of the symptoms of sepsis and knows how important it is to get care quickly.
“I want to prevent other families from experiencing this unnecessary and preventable loss. Working in the Children’s ED has helped me to gain an appreciation for interdisciplinary collaboration and how to advocate and facilitate this when we need to quickly respond and care for the pediatric patients that come in with signs and symptoms of sepsis.”
Newsome, who is studying to become a nurse, plans to use the award funds to create a workshop to educate nursing students about sepsis and how to care for septic patients.
Read Yentel’s story on Sepsis.org.
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